In 2007, it is predicted that almost 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States (Pickle et al., 2007). More than half of these cancer patients will undergo the use of radiation as a means for treating cancer at some point during the course of their disease (Perez and Brady, 1998). Cancer, a disease caused by an uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells, affects millions of people around the world. Radiotherapy is one of the well known various methods used to treat cancer, where high powered rays are aimed directly at the tumor from the outside of the body as external radiation or an instrument is surgically placed inside the body producing a result of internal radiation. Radiation is delivered to the cancerous regions of the body to damage and destroy the cells in that area, terminating the rapid growth and division of the cells. Radiation therapy has been used by medicine as a treatment for cancer from the beginning of the twentieth century, with its earliest beginnings coming from the discovery of x-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Röntgen. With the advancements in physics and computer programming, radiation had greatly evolved towards the end of the twentieth century and made the radiation treatment more effective. Radiation therapy is a curative treatment approach for cancer because it is successful in killing cancerous tumor cells and stop them from regenerating.
Radiation therapy treats cancer by killing or slowing down the continuous growth of
Cancer is defined as the abnormal, uncontrolled division of cells in the body. This uncontrollable growth causes a growth or tumour on the body. The tumours that are formed can either be benign or malignant. Malignant tumours can attack other cells and destroy them. Cancer has been around for ages and millions of people have died from cancer. There are many types of cancer and there are different reasons why people get cancer. Luckily, there are many treatments in place to help people who have cancer. Some popular options for treating cancer would be surgically removing the tumour or growth, or undergoing radiation therapy or chemotherapy. These treatments are commonly used amongst patients who have cancer. Alternatively there is another treatment that could be used to cure cancer, Proton Therapy. Proton Therapy works by directing a strong dose of radiation to the cancerous tumour (Advanced Particle Therapy, n.d.). In this essay, the advantages and disadvantages of Proton Therapy will be discussed in
Radiotherapy, also called radiation therapy, is the treatment of cancer and other diseases with radiation. Radiotherapy is used when the entire primary tumor cannot be surgically removed. Radiotherapy deposits energy
I have always been interested in the medical field. My father is a physiotherapist and my mother has a bachelorette in Microbiology and is a laboratory technologist. I have grown up having science-themed discussions around the dinner table and books lying around the house. With the experience of my parents at their respected professions, I did not have the feeling that these paths were the correct fit for me. I liked the hands on side of physiotherapy but I wanted something more technology related. I searched the medical field for a career that combined my fascination for both human science and technology in addition to being able to interact with patients. My research on Radiation Therapy instantly established a thought that this is a career
From surgery to radium exposure to such extremes as radiation therapy, as doctors’ knowledge of the varying types of cancer, and the expansion of medical research regarding cancer has changed, so has the preferred method of treatment. Doctors and researchers dedicated to studying cancer have led to a greater understanding of cancer development; consequently the development of treatments and cures that are more effective, less harmful, have fewer side effects, and in some cases serve to prevent the spread of cancer.
Doctors had been using radiation to destroy cancerous cells since the unfolding of X-rays and radium in the 1890s, but both techniques had their own issues. X-ray machines were complicated to make use of, and radium implanted near tumors. In addition, X-rays weren’t strong enough to be entirely effective, and as for both of them, they were quite expensive.
My patient currently had breast cancer, after receiving radiation therapy. She started to have issues with the quality of saliva production. She is having difficulties with dry mouth, or in other words xerostomia, caused by the radiation therapy given to the head and neck area. It is not uncommon that patients receiving radiation therapy to the head and neck area experience a decrease in saliva flow. Studies have shown that saliva flow during radiation therapy actually increases, due to the salivary glands being irritated by the radiation; however, once treatment has ended the salivary glands are relieved and decrease (OncoLink, 2014). The saliva dramatically decreases leaving the individual with temporary or permanent xerostomia. Enzymes in
Radiation oncology is a specialty that involves treating and curing cancer with radiation. It falls under the career cluster of health science. A radiation oncologist provides treatment to thousands of cancer patients through the use of high-energy radiation. Every day people all around the world depend on radiation oncologists to be devoted and perform their many tasks carefully and effectively.
Radiation therapy is an important practice in a lot of hospital and clinics many people are not aware of. It is also known as Radiation Oncology, and it is for the treatment of cancer by using beams of high-energy waves called radiation as the UI Cancer Information Services defined it. Radiation therapy plays important role in helping cure cancer. Radiation therapy is given to cancer patients in order to kill the cancer cells or it may slower the growth of cancer cells (UI Cancer Information Services, 2011). Therapy can be used to reduce pain or pressure by shrinking tumor, in cases where cure is not possible. There are various methods to do the therapy and patient may receive one or combination of techniques depending upon the size,
There are numerous approaches that are taken when treating cancer and although they all have the same goal of accomplishing the treatments differ from the way they are administered to the way they work on one’s body. Differing to chemotherapy which happens to be one of the most common methods of treatment used radiation therapy just so happens to be used to target one specific area of the body where the cancerous cells are present and causes effect to that specific area as opposed to the whole body being exposed to cancer fighting drugs. This usually is the result of beams of intense energy where the power is normally coming from X-rays but can often times be delivered from other forms of energy. While it is not guaranteed that healthy cells
Radiation is a type of cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and stop its metastasis. It works by destroying DNA and preventing its replication; therefore, it preferentially destroys cancer cells, which rapidly replicate. Radiation therapy can be external beam to damage cancer cells or internal when radiation source is placed inside the body, or near the cancer cells. Sometimes both forms of radiation therapy are
On February 5, 1951 Henrietta Lacks was told her cervical cancer was malignant. The very next day Henrietta showed up to Hopkins hospital for her first Radiation Therapy treatment. At this point Henrietta had not shared this news with her family. She thought she would go through this treatment and it would become just another chapter in her life. “Radiation Therapy is a physical agent used to destroy cancer cells” (Cancer and Radiation). The type of radiation used is ionizing radiation. The particles are charged electrically and deposited into the cancer cells. The radiation can destroy the cancer cells, as well as cause genetic changes which also result in the destruction of the cells.
It seems now that everything is a link to cancer. However, while some reports have been perplexed, there is one report that seems to have merit. The statistics found states there is a link between radiation and cancer. According to the findings there are three reasonings that support this argument, high levels of ionizing radiation, high beam from radiation cause damage to cancer cells, and lastly it can be linked because of risks of health effects.
And the role of radiation therapy in the treatment of cancer cells is to get rid of cancer tumors and diminish the spread while preserving the natural tissues near the tumor cells in the field of radiation , and came The need to use radiation therapy as one of the most effective ways to eliminate many malignant tumors and benign,
It seems now that everything is a link to cancer. However, while some reports have been perplexed, there is one report that seems to have merit. The statistics found states there is a link between the two. According to the findings there are three that supports this argument, high levels of ionizing radiation, high beam from radiation cause damage to cancer cells, and lastly it can be linked because of risks of health effects.
Radiotherapy is a is a method of treating a particular disease, most commonly being a type of cancer. To do this, different forms of radiation are used, such as X-rays, gamma rays, electron beams or protons. Whichever form of radiation is used then forms a focused beam of energy and sends it directly to the cancerous cells, while minimising exposure to